1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an image data processing apparatus and method for processing image data in a device-having an image entry function, for example, a mobile telephone with a camera, and more particularly to an image data processing unit and method for acquiring a stegano data embedded in an image, by use of image processing.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Recently, with the increasing use of the Internet by mobile telephones, the development of mobile telephones mounting cameras, scanners or other image input devices has being made enthusiastically. By the use of such mobile telephones, image data acquired by image input devices can be utilized, if the acquired image data is sent from the own mobile telephone to terminals, such as another mobile telephone or a personal computer, through the Internet or other communication networks. On the other hand, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,292 discloses a method for utilizing image data in its Specification and Drawings, wherein an image input device such as a scanner or camera is connected to a personal computer. In this method for utilizing image data, images such as printed matters, in which steganographic encoded information (hereinafter referred to as “stegano data”) is embedded, are read-out to a personal computer by an image input device, and the stegano data is detected and sent to a server. On the server side, a URL corresponding to the detected stegano data is searched, and the searched URL is sent back to the personal computer, and the personal computer makes access to a web site corresponding to the URL, for allowing information corresponding to the image to be displayed.
However, even if such a method for detecting stegano data and utilizing image data is to be carried out in the conventional mobile telephone with a camera, image processing for detecting stegano data that has been executed on a personal computer would not be able to be executed within a practical processing time due to the limitation of the processing performance by memory or a CPU that can be used for mobile telephones.